Let us just check a few. To my knowledge there are more than 100,000 Filipino maids in Hong Kong.

I would estimate that the absolute maximum to be seen around Central in mid-week is about two hundred, if that. That figure represents less than one fifth of one per cent, or two in every thousand.

It is reasonable to assume that not every single maid in Hong Kong has her holiday only on a Sunday and that two in one thousand is a reasonable average. In fact, in my own circle of Filipino acquaintances I know of at least three whose holidays are mid-week.

It would seem that K M Shen's solution is for the authorities to round up these renegade vagrants and deport them forthwith.

What an embarrassment and an unnecessary waste of taxpayers money it would be to find that the vast majority are bona fide maids.

Illegal Filipinos are not stupid enough to sit around in public places waiting to be arrested. At the first sign of trouble the odd few offenders would immediately run for cover leaving the spectacle of hordes of police and Immigration people shambling around checking out perfectly legitimate documents.